BALDWINSVILLE – Three games and three victories had propelled the Baldwinsville football team into the lower reaches of the state Class AA rankings – the no. 24 spot, to be exact.
However, the Bees still haven’t put it all together to reach the top of the area large-school ranks, still ruled over by state no. 8-ranked Cicero-North Syracuse, who parlayed a first-half scoring blitz into a 40-7 victory last Friday at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium.
The Bees were determined, in front of a large and loud home crowd on Senior Night, to change that equation, but the plan fell apart on the second play from scrimmage, a fumble that C-NS lineman Jerrod Hills recovered at the B’ville 29-yard line.
With a short field, the Northstars gave it three times to Jamar Ballard, who covered the entire 29 yards, the last three of them for a touchdown just 2:13 into the game.
On its second possession, C-NS again stuck with the ground game, and with Ballard, who carried it on all but one play for 53 of the 64 yards, scoring for the second time from six yards out to make it 14-0.
Having established one part of its offense, the Northstars showcased the other when it got the ball a third time, thanks to sophomore quarterback Jaxon Razmovski.
A 25-yard strike to Mason Ellis, who made a juggling catch, was quickly followed by a 38-yard scoring strike to Vinnie Latanzio in single coverage early in the second quarter.
Again working with a short field, the Northstars, facing fourth-down-and-four at the Bees’ 36, again gave it to Ballard, who charged up the middle and didn’t get stopped until he had scored his third TD of the half.
B’ville did briefly recover with a long scoring drive as Caden Cox threw an 18-yard scoring pass to Nick Huhtala just before halftime, making it 28-7.
And while that created the exact same score as it was when C-NS rallied to beat Liverpool on that same field the last time it played there in the 2019 sectional Class AA semifinal, there would be no comeback this time.
After a scoreless third period, the Northstars locked it up early in the fourth quarter with its other quarterback, senior Anthony Testa, scrambling on some plays and throwing 29 yards to Ellis, who made another spectacular catch, to set up Farouk Ibrahim’s six-yard TD run. Jason Bartlett added a score from two yards out a few minutes later.
Sam Mellinger led the Bees’ offense rushing for 76 of the team’s 126 yards on the ground. Huhtala paced the defense with eight tackles, four of them solo, plus an interception as Nick Foster also had eight tackles. Amari Akins got six tackles.
Both teams wore special “TC” patches on their helmets to honor Tyler Christman, the 14-year-old Carthage High School freshman who passed away Tuesday, three days after injuries suffered in a junior varsity football game against West Genesee.
C-NS coaches also wore special red sweatshirts with Tyler’s no. 12 on the back, and a moment of silence was held before the game in Tyler’s memory.
The Bees will look to bounce back from its first loss of the season this Friday when it visits Corcoran. Kickoff is at 6 p.m.
